President - Stephanie Slater - Palm Beach Post

Stephanie Slater is a staff writer for the Palm Beach Post, covering the community of Boca Raton.

Prior to joining The Post, she spent two years on the police, fire rescue and courts beat at the Boca Raton News and its Delray Beach edition. She credits the Florida Press Club for helping her land a job at the Post. It was at the Florida Press Club 2002 convention in St. Augustine that she met Palm Beach Post Deputy Managing Editor Bill Rose.

As president, Slater will publish quarterly newsletters and represent the club and its activities to other journalism organizations, as well as newspapers and journalists not affiliated with the club. She will also assist the vice presidents in coordinating committees, planning regional seminars and organizing the annual Excellence in Journalism competition.

Slater got her start in journalism at age 16, freelancing for The Rockland-Journal News in Rockland County, N.Y. She created "What's Up for Teens," a Saturday feature for the newspaper's Living section focusing on issues of interest to teenagers. Her favorite: Should condoms be distributed in high schools?

Slater graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication at Syracuse University in May 2000 with a degree in print journalism.

Vice President - Fred Bellet - Tampa Tribune

Fred Bellet, staff photographer at The Tampa Tribune, is a 25-year veteran of community photojournalism coverning Hillsborough, Hernando and Pasco counties. Bellet's journalistic roots began as a writer at the University of Tampa student newspaper and a writing internship (1977) at The Tampa Tribune. After attending the University of South Florida for visual communications, Bellet made the transition to photography and by 1986 he earned the title of Photographer of the Year at The Tampa Tribune.

In May 1999, Bellet established the first of what can be expected to be an annual co-sponsorship of seminars and workshops with the Society of Professional Journalists (Tampa Bay chapter/region 3).

Bellet served as an associate vice-president (1981-82) of the Florida West Coast Press Photographers Association, as vice-president (1986-88) of the Florida News Photographers Association, and vice-president/contests (1997-98) for the Florida Press Club. He's been an FPC member since 1987.

Vice President - Robert Azmitia - Sun-Sentinel

Robert "Bobby" Azmitia, is the Senior Photographer/Freelance Editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel He has been with the Sun-Sentinel for 19 years. He is from Tampa, Fla. and has been a member of the Fla. Press Club for 21 years . He has worked at the Ocala Star Banner and the Lakeland Ledger before going to the Sun-Sentinel in 1982.

Treasurer - Charles Keefer - Palm Beach Post

Charles Keefer is systems editor at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach. His near 30-year career in newspapers includes stints as state editor and bureau chief as well as beat, bureau and general assignment reporter for The Post and at Today newspaper.

Keefer, along with writer John Peterson, won First Prize for Investigative Reporting in the 1976 Education Writers Association's Charles Stewart Mott Awards for a week long series detailing how Palm Beach County public schools denied equal educational opportunity to minority students.

Earlier, Keefer covered NASA and Cape Canaveral as well a several cities for Today, then based in Cocoa, and was city hall reporter for the Martinsville (Va.) Bulletin where he won a first place writing award from the Virginia Press Association.

As systems editor at The Palm Beach Post, he programmed the first laptop and desktop PCs in the newsroom, installed the first newsroom networks, and wrote programs that linked laptops to the newsroom's ATEX front-end system. For the last three years, Keefer has been working with the PERL language to automate conversion of Associated Press agate copy to The Post's new DTI pagination system and to automate other newsroom tasks.

Over the years, Keefer has served the Florida Press Club for four years as president, two years as secretary, and since 1995 as the club's treasurer. He is webmaster of the club's internet site and organized the club's 1999 convention on Singer Island.

Visit Keefer's web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~charles_keefer.

Executive Assistant - Julie Jones

Julie Jones, a former Citrus County Chronicle reporter turned school teacher has served as the club's executive assistant since 1996. She is more than the club's secretary. She has been the driving force in getting things done whether in preparation for regional seminars to the annual awards program and banquet.

"I remember my first year as executive assistant. I couldn't believe how many journalists were out there and entered the contest. My living room and spare bedroom were taken over by the nearly 500 entries (and it has been that way every July and August since). The post office in Floral City knows me very well and learned my name very quickly that first year," she said.

She won First Place for Education Writing in the Florida Press Club's Excellence in Journalism Contest in both 1996 and 1997. Julie is teaching first grade at Rock Crusher Elementary School in Citrus County. She married Scott Jones in October 1999.

Contest Coordinator - Christine Selvaggi - Stuart News

Christine Selvaggi graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2000. She's worked at The Business Journal in Jacksonville and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Forum Publishing Group. She is currently a general assignment/growth reporter for the Stuart News on the Treasure Coast.

This page updated Feb. 4, 2003. Please send any comments to Webmaster.